Tony Stewart visits special-needs center, checks out horses

There's something amazing about the moment when a NASCAR champion shows up in your town, and on Tuesday, Tony Stewart brought a lot of smiles to a lot of young faces. He visited the Small Miracles Therapeutic Riding Center in Kingsport, Tenn. to hang with special-needs kids and the horses they use for therapy.

"To see how these kids connect with their horses and ponies is pretty cool," Stewart told the Bristol Herald Courier. "We over complicate our lives a lot of times. It's neat to be able to detach from all that and make life simpler for a couple hours."

Stewart talked to the kids, their parents and local media about everything from his struggles at Bristol to his newfound connections with fans. And, as he is wont to do, he pretty much charmed everybody with his regular-guy credentials:

"I didn't grow up in a rich family," he said. "I'm just an average guy that has a really cool job on the weekends."